Winter 2015

Hello again-
I really need to post more often.  I'm having trouble getting into this.  I will do better.  I just keep telling myself that and I'm sure it will eventually sink in!!

I have been doing Zumba Gold classes since last April.  I started out doing every other Thursday.  This is a free class sponsored by WellCare Insurance.  Then at the end of May I ventured over to another class.  Fortunately my Zumba instructor only charges $3.00 per class (most charge 5.00).   They are an hour long so you get a good workout in.  Zumba Gold is for people age 50 and over.   A regular Zumba class is tough.  At my age its hard to remember the moves.  After a while, you learn the routines.  So for the first couple months it can be quite challenging.  You have to learn the routine as well as the different moves.  But we all laugh at each other and have fun.  We keep saying "As long as you're moving".  So anyway, I was going twice a week for 2 weeks and once a week for 2 weeks.  We have our classes in the rec center of a mobile home park.  For that reason, because of winter visitors, some classes stop for the summer.  But we have one park that goes year round. 

 So in December we picked up another class as the winter visitors came down.  So I have 2 classes every week and 3 for 2 weeks.  So my point is this:  in October when we had our first cool front, I noticed my pants were a bit baggy.  These were my skinny jeans.  And along the way I found 3 other pairs had become baggy.  I have had to buy a few pairs in smaller sizes, but I'm hoping to lose a little more before committing to buying too many.

I can't credit the Zumba entirely for the weight loss.  I do try to walk 3 miles (that just happens to be the route I take) three times a week.  And I do a food combining diet.  You don't eat carbs and proteins together in the same meal.  And NO sugar.  That's the part that hold me back.  I have such a sweet tooth.  So I just have to buckle down!!

Summer 2014

August 20, 2014

I said I was going to post more and I haven't.  I have settled in to not working at a job.  It seems as if I never had one......  I do miss it and the people I worked with.

I thought I would use all this free time to catch up on those household chores you keep putting off, like organizing your kitchen drawers etc.  But I actually have found out that they seem okay.  LOL

I thought I might catch up on all of my scrapbooking that I'm behind on.  I did do a few days worth and that was that.  I started on a sewing project......then summer came.....my daughter, son in law and grandson came to visit from California.....

Now my daughter is gone....we did do a lot of running around. We didn't sit still for long.  Had to cram a lot in in 6 weeks.

I try to do my walking 3 days a week.  I must say I have gotten a nice tan, even if it is a "walking tan" (similar to a farmers tan)

I am going to post a few pics from the summer.

This is Rick and I with our granddaughters -Madeline, Hannah and Eva - at Epcot.

 This is Stacey, me, my mother (Margie), Jennifer first row
Eva, Madeline and Madeline bottom row - going to Chick Fil A on our way to Cow Appreciation Day

 This is Rick and myself with Max and Hannah at Busch Gardens (we took Hannah b/c her sisters went scalloping with their other grandparents)

We have been getting season passes for ourselves and Max for the past 3 years.  He has loved it from the first, so my husband splurges for him.  After we only get to see him in the summer and every other Christmas.  So we go to Busch Gardens 2 - 3 times while he's here in the summer and at least once in December.

Losing my job......

Well it's been almost 2 years since my last blog.  I was new at it and just couldn't get into the groove.  Well, things have changed now.  I just lost my job of almost 11 years today. I worked part-time at a durable medical equipment company.  Three days a week.  Whatever days I wanted.  And in the blink of an eye-Gone!!!!  It wasn't that I made a lot of money because believe me I didn't.  It was so nonstressful and convenient.  Over the last 9 years I have babysat my 3 granddaughters.  The oldest is now 10 and in 4th grade.  The middle one is almost 7 and in 1st grade.  The youngest is not yet even in preK.  Circumstances have changed so I only occasionally watch her.

This is where it started:  My daughter, Stacey, was in her last semester of college.  She and her husband, Rick, decided it was time to start a family.  Her plan was to have the baby in January or February (after graduating in December with a teaching degree) and starting teaching in August.  But the first day in the hospital she knew she didn't want to go to work.  So after a year of not working she started looking for a part time job.  She got a city job just 2 minutes from my house.

Her husband was working in his mothers bakery.  The bakery was closed on Monday, so that was her day to babysit.  I took Wednesday and Friday as those were my days off.  This went on for a little over 3 years and another baby was added in.  Then my son in law started nursing school.  After another year or so he got a job in a children's hospital and his schedule varied.  So I would babysit whatever days I was needed.   I was very fortunate I was able to this at my job.

I was the file clerk so it didn't really matter what days I was there.  I didn't have to answer phones or deal with patients.  So as I said, stressfree!

The company went through bankruptcy last year.  Even though they came out of it, no one was really sure we were okay.  We still weren't getting raises.  Then we were told they were no longer going to provide the water and cooler or the coffee.  That was kind of a clue I guess.

Three people were let go ahead of me.  I was the last one.  For today. Who knows what else will happen?  Those left behind will be even more overworked.  At least we can keep in touch via Facebook.

Now begins a new chapter.  I don't know if I will get another job right away.  My husband has been wanting to retire for the last 3 years.  Good thing he didn't!!

Well that's it for today.  I have lots of time to add to my blog now!!

Get motivated

Do you find that you lack motivation to scrapbook?  I face that a lot!!

To motivate myself, I either start looking at my digital scrapbook projects or go on a scrapbook website.  I find that if I look at projects I tend to want to work on my own.

I have many projects I have started and are incomplete.   The problem is I can't find what I am looking for.  I know I have a particular element or paper, but I can't remember where it is.  I spend so much time looking for something, it's time to quit.  I wish I had a better solution to my digital scrapbook kits.  I have a general folder named Scrapbooking.  Inside I have individual folders named by where I got them i.e. Scrapgirls.com, digitalscrapbookplace.com....  Because you have to give credit, the only way I can do it is by putting them in folders this way.  I need to come up with a way to organize them by theme.

Maybe I will make a theme folder i.e. Christmas and put subfolders labeled where they came from i.e.  scrapgirls etc.  Sounds like a project but a worthwhile one.

So being organized is one less thing to mess with your motivation.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Digital scrapbooking

I started digital scrapbooking a little over 2 years ago. My sister-in- law told me about a website for digital scrapbooking. Until then I had never heard of it before. Here was this website where you could create an account for free and then download a program for free!!!! How great was this.

And so began a different direction in scrapbooking. I loved it right away. I just jumped right in and started putting out page after page. When I look back at my first pages I have to chuckle because I've come a long way since then.

I looked at other members pages and some were just phenominal. Then I realized that most members had an additional software program like Photoshop Elements or something similar. I just had to do my best because I didn't have one. I would send my daughter (she lives in NYC) images and she would make png files and send them back to me.

I did find a free software program similar to Photoshop and I did make some png files myself. But sometimes you need to rotate images and the free software program on the website didn't do that. But the program is really great. And last year my daughter gave me Photoshop Elements for my birthday. But there was just a minor problem. I didn't know how to use it.

Of course it didn't come with an instruction manual. So I was fortunate enough to finally get a copy at the public library. I though I would do that instead of purchasing one. And that (along with my daughters help) I have learned enough to do much better work.

I have found so many websites that have freebies. I have quite a collection now.

And then there are sites with tutorials for Photoshop Elements. Even if it's not the version you may have you can figure out how to do with yours. I learn something new around every corner. And just when you think you've figured it all out, they come up with some new technique.

Eva and Madeline

Max when he first started walking.